Apartment developers feed an appetite for grocery stores

Paul Layne, Executive V.P. of Howard Hughes Corps. and executives tour The Woodlands of Hughes Landing mixed-use development and One Lakes Edge apartment project on Wednesday February 4, 2015 in The Woodlands, Texas.
(For the Chronicle by Thomas B. Shea) less

Paul Layne, Executive V.P. of Howard Hughes Corps. and executives tour The Woodlands of Hughes Landing mixed-use development and One Lakes Edge apartment project on Wednesday February 4, 2015 in The Woodlands, ... more

Photo: Thomas B. Shea

Image 2 of 5

Paul Layne, Executive V.P. of Howard Hughes Corps. and executives tour The Woodlands of Hughes Landing mixed-use development and One Lakes Edge apartment project on Wednesday February 4, 2015 in The Woodlands, Texas.
(For the Chronicle by Thomas B. Shea) less

Paul Layne, Executive V.P. of Howard Hughes Corps. and executives tour The Woodlands of Hughes Landing mixed-use development and One Lakes Edge apartment project on Wednesday February 4, 2015 in The Woodlands, ... more

Photo: Thomas B. Shea

Image 3 of 5

Paul Layne, Executive V.P. of Howard Hughes Corps. and executives tour The Woodlands of Hughes Landing mixed-use development and One Lakes Edge apartment project on Wednesday February 4, 2015 in The Woodlands, Texas.
(For the Chronicle by Thomas B. Shea) less

Paul Layne, Executive V.P. of Howard Hughes Corps. and executives tour The Woodlands of Hughes Landing mixed-use development and One Lakes Edge apartment project on Wednesday February 4, 2015 in The Woodlands, ... more

Photo: Thomas B. Shea

Image 4 of 5

One Lakes Edge in
The Woodlands lives up
to its name.

One Lakes Edge in
The Woodlands lives up
to its name.

Photo: Thomas B. Shea

Image 5 of 5

The construction of an office building under development on Richmond between Timmons and Cummins.

The construction of an office building under development on Richmond between Timmons and Cummins.

Photo: Nancy Sarnoff

Apartment developers feed an appetite for grocery stores

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Developers have always liked to build apartment complexes near shops and restaurants, but proximity to major grocery stores is increasingly touted as an amenity.

A project opening in The Woodlands in April will be just a few steps away from a new Whole Foods Market.

In Montrose, the Finger Cos. will soon open a new complex on Dunlavy at West Alabama across from an H-E-B. The market is one of the reasons the developer picked the location. When tenants move in, they will be given collapsible grocery carts.

The Woodlands complex, One Lakes Edge, is being built in Hughes Landing, a 66-acre project combining office buildings, apartments, retail and a hotel.

The apartments sit on the bank of Lake Woodlands. The developer is building a marina for kayaks.

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At a recent event previewing the property, 32 people reserved apartments.

The 390 units average 988 square feet and will range from $1,500 to $4,500 per month.

One's a go, one's not

TRC Capital Partners, formerly known as the Redstone Cos., has started construction on an office building on Richmond Avenue, while putting off development of another property planned in the Galleria area.

The Houston-based company, which is developing the Richmond project with Hansen Partners and Barbour Investments, said it is moving forward with the building because more than a third of it is preleased. TRC would not reveal any tenant names.

The 11-story building will have 180,000 square feet, including a limited amount of retail space. It is being developed on a site between Timmons and Cummins. The architects are Philip Ewald Architects and STG Design.

In a recent interview, TRC's president and CEO said an office tower the company has been planning on Post Oak Boulevard near Westheimer is on hold until a tenant steps forward.

"We are not going to build a building on a speculative basis," Steve Lerner said. "The office market is very uncertain right now."

About that commute

As Houston-area traffic has worsened over the years, the time spent driving back and forth to work has become an increasingly important consideration when shopping for a home.

The Houston Association of Realtors has taken that into account and launched a feature on its website that allows users to search for houses based on commute times.

Users can enter the address of their office or other frequently traveled destination along with an optimal commute time, and a map will appear showing property listings that fall within that time.

"Texans are so dependent on their cars that it only makes sense that consumers should be able to conduct a real estate search based on their commute time," HAR chairwoman Nancy Furst said in a statement released last week.

Houston was ranked No. 15 on a list of worst cities for traffic congestion, according to a report from technology company Inrix, which is providing the data for HAR's search tool.

Traffic was up 20 percent in the last year, and Houston drivers now lose an average of 32 hours annually to gridlock.